If you ever get tired of the same old Disney vacation, try finding some of the smaller places on Disney property. Places like this, the Muddy Rivers Pool Bar, which is located on Ol’ Man Island at Port Orleans Riverside Resort at Walt Disney World Florida. This outside bar is great, it’s surrounded by trees and water, the bar is conveniently located pool side.

What is great about visiting some of the out of the way places at Disney World is that they aren’t so crowded so even if it’s a Friday or Saturday night, most people are congregating in Disney Springs and the Theme Parks.

When the weather is right, this outside bar is a perfect spot for relaxing. I ordered a frozen favorite – a Piña Colada, a mixture of coconut milk, rum, and pineapple. Price $8.75 before tax and tip.

Just an update, my Disney Dollars arrived way earlier than expected. The cast member told me to expect them to arrive in 2-3 weeks, and they arrived Tuesday via UPS 2 Day Air!

The biggest surprise was that every bill I received was of this exact design, the Stitch 2005 $10 bill. It’s surprising because this bill is 11 years old. I haven’t had a chance to look them over too closely, but I noticed the serial numbers on my bills are indeed consecutive. I like Stitch so I’m happy about that too. I heard that they are shipping out whatever they have left in Scrooge McDuck’s vault, joking, but seriously if you happened to order some Disney Dollars this last week, you may be getting old uncirculated Disney currency.

The River Roost Bar is located at Port Orleans Riverside Resort in Walt Disney World, Florida. On their menu they offer various cocktails, and they offer their version of the Sazarac, a classic New Orleans cocktail. This drink is made with high end Bulleit Rye American Whiskey, Agave Nectar, Bitters, and Pernod. While this wouldn’t be my drink of choice, I can certainly appreciate the history and culture behind this drink and that alone is a good reason to try it. It’s a strong drink, with slightly fruity undertones, and is an enjoyable drink ideal for sipping. Price $10.75 before tax and tip.

I had come across this YouTube video through one of the Disney Fan groups that I belong to. The question being asked by many of the group members is – Who is Peter Tu?

If you have watched the YouTube video by now which was posted by Jade Tu, his grand daughter, shows a glimpse of her grand father’s day. Peter Tu visits Disneyland practically everyday for the last 16 years. For those who work at Disneyland, they all know him, and many of the Disneyland regulars and annual passholders know of him too. He is “Disney Famous”.

Being on the east coast, I had no idea about who he was. But, I am so happy that his grand daughter shared this. It was definitely worth watching.

It was announced less than 48 hours ago that Disney would stop the production of Disney Dollars. They have been in production since 1987. The reason for their discontinuation of the Disney Dollar has been said to be that the gift card has taken over as the preferred method of alternative currency when guests aren’t using their credit cards or cash.

So, ultimately, the lack of usage of the Disney Dollar seems have led to its demise. The main value of the Disney Dollar has always been its novelty and collectability, it is a souvenir in and of itself.

In the last year I have been meaning to stop by Guest Services and purchase some Disney Dollars and just never got around to doing it. I’ve always wanted to collect them, it reminded me of visiting the parks with my family when I was little. I’ve always thought of buying them for the purpose of having them as collectibles, I didn’t really think about using them currency while at Disney, and that’s probably a big part of the problem.

Current reports coming out of the parks as of 10 am Saturday morning are claiming that the remaining Disney Dollars that were in stock at all Guest Relations have been sold out.

But, there is still a sliver of hope, if you are willing to wait on hold for nearly an hour, you can still try contacting WDW Ticketing by phone. But you should act fast. They only had $10 bills left at around 10 am today. The purchasing limit is $50 per person, $150 per household per day, plus $15 shipping charge. Delivery time 2-3 weeks. While they are not going to make Disney Dollars anymore – they will continue to accept Disney Dollars as legal tender at Disney World and Disneyland – so they will always be worth at least face value.

Here is a screen shot below with the ordering number:

WDW Ticketing Hotline

Please let me know if you manage to get any Disney Dollars below.

What do Disney Dollars mean to you? are you a collector or do you enjoy spending them at Disney?

We haven’t been to Art of Animation Resort before, many people have raved about resort and the food court, so we thought it might be worth trying. While the resort seems nice, the lobby has interesting artwork and is bright and colorful, it still has the feel of a busy budget resort. The lobby bathrooms and floors near the restrooms seemed dirtier than most Disney restrooms. The toilet paper they have in the restrooms is practically see through, the thinnest one ply paper I’ve ever seen.

While I had originally had high hopes for the Landscape of Flavor Food Court, sadly, I ended up feeling ill after eating here. It was obviously the food, as I hadn’t eaten earlier in the day, and my husband also got sick as well. He said it was top 10 of all time getting sick from food. That’s bad.

Chicken Burger with Caesar Salad and Cole Slaw

I ordered a Chicken Burger with a side of cole slaw and Caesar salad and a soft drink. My husband ordered a Veggie Burger with salad and a soft drink and he ended up getting more sick than me. Nothing smelled or tasted off, it looked okay, just right after eating we both started getting intestinal distress, which is a tell tale sign of food poisoning/bacteria. I ate about half of my burger. I was a little bit concerned about ordering cole slaw, since cole slaw is one of those things that needs to be really fresh, but it looked ok. And the salad was premixed with dressing on it, not really the most ideal set up, I would have preferred to have lettuce separately and add a packet of dressing myself.

They had a lot of different food options at the food court: a pasta counter, a sandwich counter, a dessert section, a smoothie bar, gelato, etc. but we won’t be going back. I wouldn’t want to risk getting sick again.

I’m sure hundreds of people eat here daily, but I couldn’t honestly recommend this food court to anyone after my own experience.

From time to time I like to make waffles, I got this Mickey Waffle Maker as a gift for Valentine’s Day a couple years ago, and it works great. You can find one online at Amazon.com, JC Penney’s, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc. This model is called the DCM-1 and costs around $30.

Just an FYI, the resulting waffle as you can see above, is not the traditional deep crispy waffle, it’s more like a Mickey pancake. I guess “pancake maker” isn’t as appealing as calling it a waffle maker. Add your favorite toppings, fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate syrup, maple syrup, jams or jellies, powdered sugar, it is a lot of fun.

Travelling by boat is one of the most enjoyable methods of transportation at Walt Disney World, especially on a fine day or cool evening. There are boats that run between the Magic Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom resorts, as well as Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness.

We traveled by boat from Fort Wilderness to Magic Kingdom, after a short boat ride, we approached the dock, this was the view out of my window. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, breezy and pleasant, the weather was perfect.